Creativity and the arts
![Impressionist painting of a family in a garden, with a child learning to walk, assisted by an adult, as another adult crouches down with outstretched arms.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/60d287d7-081f-43bd-8466-bcdefc98fc1f/rt-vincent_van_gogh_-_first_steps_after_millet.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Values and beliefs
idea
A philosophical approach can help you identify what truly matters
We’re often taught to live according to our values, but this is easier said than done without pausing to reflect deeply
by Valerie Tiberius
![Medieval illustration of three musicians: one with a violin, another in a blue robe, and the last with a flute, framed by colourful borders.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/511f082f-8f1c-4d63-9af2-c050444fed10/rt-cpg848842.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Music
idea
Courtly love songs are a window into medieval sex lives
Song lyrics acted as a sexual script for aristocrats, revealing some edgy practices that ignited their imaginations
by Elizabeth Eva Leach
![A close-up of a paint swatch booklet with colour samples including blue, yellow and beige. They have labels such as Polka Dot, Vanilla and Daisy Chain.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/ec5740e9-dbcc-4094-91a3-aaa73d07c477/possible-colours_0185.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Creativity
guide
How to use ‘possibility thinking’
Have you hit an impasse in your personal or professional life? Answer these questions to open your mind to what’s possible
by Constance de Saint Laurent & Vlad Glăveanu
![Silhouette of person standing before an orange light, creating a glowing halo effect on a neutral background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/150a926d-125c-43a5-8973-9a3956573d4d/helen-pashgian-visible-invisible-landscape-1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Painting and sculpture
film
Toxic materials become sculptures of light and air in this artist’s hands
Directed by Anika Kan Grevstad
![Two people look at a scientifically based recreation of a Neanderthal man’s head, adorned with feathers and fur, enclosed in a glass case at a museum. The setting is under strong indoor lighting with a blue wall background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/ee5666a1-d75b-4a3e-ad46-8020c4761179/rt-gettyimages-450373548.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Communication and language
idea
This is what a Neanderthal conversation would have sounded like
Neanderthals had language, but it differed from ours in an important way that could help explain our superior art and tech
by Steven Mithen
![A vintage photo of six women wearing wide-brimmed hats, smiling and laughing together. One woman is holding a steering wheel, suggesting they might be on a fun outdoor adventure. The background shows a natural, slightly blurry setting.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/bf54d286-b986-4455-8705-b01af1d560f2/rt-walk-you-walk.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Film
idea
Why was a laughing woman seen as lethal, not least to herself?
When early cinema weaponised the sight of women’s laughter, it borrowed from flawed psychiatric ideas about female hysteria
by Maggie Hennefeld
![Black-and-white photo of two people in a small rowboat on a calm, open water body under a cloudy sky. The boat and its occupants are reflected clearly in the still water.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/cd3e58b1-bdde-486e-b9c4-7331d9d1c486/par320074.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
The nature of reality
guide
How to think about time
This philosopher’s introduction to the nature of time could radically alter how you see your past and imagine your future
by Graeme A Forbes
![A still from the film Miss Congeniality showing the actress Sandra Bullock in a tight-fitting lilac dress walking towards the camera, surrounded by people in pink uniforms.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/91a29dae-09cd-466e-a2f1-4ad67e65860d/makeover-movie-landscape-1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Film
film
From drab to fab – a playful dissection of the Hollywood makeover
Directed by Sue Ding
![A young couple in handcuffs lean against a 1950s police car beneath a brooding prairie sky](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/d0dca061-835c-419d-9899-62e0ea1da3a3/rt-2qdgw8rog1ub1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Mind and brain
idea
What films and literature reveal about the voice in your head
Inner speech is mysterious and hard to study. But movie voiceovers and introspective novels offer fresh ways to understand it
by Shayla Love
![Three humpback whales viewed underwater](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/b1b41559-28b3-4169-956f-ac6f06fc416a/humpback-rt.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Music
idea
I learned to hear the music of Earth’s underwater musicians
If we consider the sounds of whales and other organisms with an open mind, we find a strange beauty – and can even join in
by David Rothenberg
![A close-up of a man using an online betting platform on his smartphone. The phone screen lights up a darkened room](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/27e856e9-4813-47ea-834d-0facf638a9da/sq-final-gettyimages-1209687825.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Addiction
guide
How to control your gambling
What’s fun at first can all too easily get out of hand. Learn the warning signs and use these tips to rein things in
by Luke Clark
![Illustration of a blue-colored woman balancing on one leg surrounded by plants, flowers, a crab, berries, mushrooms, and a turtle.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/1e5970ce-3280-417e-a49a-25304e3442a9/dance-dance-evolution-psyche-landscape-1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Dance
film
Every culture dances. So why did humans evolve to get down?
Directed by Rosanna Wan and Andrew Khosravani